Madagascar Musings

It was such a great joy and blessing to be able to go back to my first home this past April. My dream had always been to go back to Madagascar to visit and show our children where I was born and raised. Although our oldest, Hannah, was not able to join us because of her college studies, we hope that one day she will also get to visit and meet her extended Malagasy family.

We spent a total of three weeks in Madagascar visiting several different parts of the country where I spent my childhood – in the far south near the ocean, in the capital city, as well as my birthplace (bush town in the SW), and some towns in between. A highlight of our time was getting to visit three missionary families who send their kids to RVA. Two of them work with the International Mission Board (IMB) planting churches and training leaders in both the Southwest and the Southeast, and one family works with Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) in the Central Highlands.

My favorite time during our journey was uniting with my parents (coming all the way from Minnesota!) and taking a road trip, getting to visit many Malagasy people and health centers. My parents served in Madagascar for forty years as a doctor and nurse and overseeing Christ-proclaiming hospitals and health centers throughout the island. To see how dearly loved they are was so healing to my soul, as my eyes and heart were opened wide to the reality of how extensive our family is, in the Biblical sense. The heartache and pain I experienced in my childhood with repeated “goodbyes”… sharing in the sufferings of Jesus… I now consider an honor by God’s grace, as I saw the fruit of the suffering of my family (3 generations in Madagascar) and labor of love for the sake of the gospel.

My great-grandpa came to Madagascar in 1898 as a pastor. His daughter Connie and husband Caleb also gave their lives to serving the Malagasy for over fifty years. My dad was born in the States but was raised in Madagascar from the age of one. He and his sister, Hortense, attended the Lutheran Missionary School in the town of Ft. Dauphin, several days journey from their parents. When he was seven, Hortense (age 10) got sick with malaria at the boarding school.  Before my grandparents got the message, she had died. My dad had to grieve and bury his sister alone. She died in May and because of complications during the war, he didn’t see his parents until August.

Every town we visited, my parents (and we got to be included!) were warmly welcomed and celebrated! It was at times overwhelming for my soul like I’ve never experienced in my life. I often heard people refer to Mom and Dad as their mom and dad, and had been waiting some years for their return. (It had been 14 years since they had last been in Mad.) God truly has multiplied our family.

During the week-long journey with my parents, in all our encounters with the Malagasy, getting to walk along memory lane, and hearing my dad share many stories and lots of history (thank you, Dad!), my thoughts often turned to Mark 10:29-30. Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life”. Jesus Himself makes up for every sacrifice! I saw this unfold before my very eyes and it was truly beautiful. Even though I missed having my parents in my daily life growing up, I never doubted their love, nor God’s love for me.

The other huge blessing was to see God’s continuing, faithful work in His church as He advances His kingdom. It was so encouraging for us to see how He continues to grow the Health Department of the Malagasy Lutheran Church using His own Malagasy beloved people. When my parents left fourteen years ago, there were about twenty-one health centers and now there are about fifty hospitals and clinics.

We return to RVA even more determined to make Christ our only boast and to serve these students and staff to the best of our ability and in the strength that God supplies (because we know we are so weak on our own).